blog

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Jumping into the Alaskan wilderness with Rachel Klein, my road manager for my Alaskan tour with Antje Duvekot.
Check out additional photographs in the gallery.

I have journeyed a crazy round about path from Alaska to Okemah and I cant do the math, but Im guessing Ive traveled close to a million miles in the last few weeks. I didnt sleep a wink because the midnight sun was blazing up in the sky and squeezing in through every crack, every wrinkle in between every brick of the places I slept in, and it kept me and the stars awake all night. I counted orcas on a taxi run out on the bay in Homer, they played in the waves and I was glad I wasnt born a seal. They eat seals.

I taught at a school for aspiring songwriters, and I took a ferry ride past glaciers so cool the icebergs were bright blue when they broke off as runaway orphans, to drift on the sea. My companions and I chased a moose into brambles and branches-- the moose didnt give a damn to bother being worried about us. He was comfortable in brambles. I was being devoured by mosquitos, though I looked like an astronaut.

Driving for miles in the Alaskan wild can make you feel like a little child looking up for the first time at skyscraper mountains and bald eagle wings. I sang at a deli at a tiny airport in beautiful Valdez, played the stage at Alices, a grand re-opening concert--the place is now open if you want to raise a glass, its waiting for you with open arms. The beer is cheap and it tastes like honey, makes you feel like a grizzly when you drink. I gained eleven pounds and slept seven days. I hibernated in Palmer, Alaska for a few days, wrapped in a gauze of toilet paper to keep the sun from my eyes. Next time I go Im thinking Ill ask yall to come along; well plan a big excursion when the time is right. And watch the sun stay up all night. Maybe Homer, in the next summer or two.

A couple shows to mention, next Friday 7/27 I am playing the Rubin Museum in New York city http://www.rmanyc.org an all acoustic show in a beautiful theater surrounded by glorious art from the Himalayas. The theater is acoustically sound and requires not a wee smidgen of electricity to bring my reedy stories to your ears. It should be a magic night, combining amazing art and songs. Stone Mountain up in Maine is a revelation of a club, having only played there once; I'd like to just move there permanently, and be fed and watered like a house plant. I'd like to invite y'all to that show on 9/14 because it is the finest run club for fan and artist alike that I have run across in years. Good food too, come up, rent a BnB and listen to some new songs. See: Stone Mountain Arts Center. Don't forget the Boston Folk Festival 9/16 as well with a stellar line up of mostly Massachusettss finest performers. I get grandfathered in on this one, since my home is now in Virginia, but my spiritual home is Davis Square, Somerville, MA. (Where I am performing at the Somerville Theater in November!)

Flynn, the producer, is putting his magic to my new children's album as we speak, and we are hoping to have that done by September-October, keep your eyes and ears out for that one, we'll be taking orders on the website sometime in August. Also keep your ears out for a live from XM studio session I recently recorded before a wonderful audience in Washington DC. That should be aired in the next few months.